Ender's War

Chapter 2 - Strategy

"I have to go after them", Ender quickly got up onto his feet.

Valentine immediately shook her head, thinking otherwise. "After all of these years", she said simply. "Have you not learned anything?"

Ender was having trouble comprehending the new situation, and looked at her like she was talking Spanish. A language that no matter how hard he studied, he could not manage to have a strong grasp of.

"They're my best friends Valentine." He argued. "Just get a team to drop me off where they were taken. Nobody except the officers occupying this particular base know of my reappearance anyway."

"Ender", she spoke firmly this time. "For once, your heart is getting in the way of your brain."

He denied it as being so. "I always know what I am doing."

"And I don't doubt that. But just take a minute to step back and look at the big picture. Our brother, as indignant as he is, is doing an absolutely terrible job at getting this war under control."

"The world abandoned me, Val! Maybe I don't want to be the one to have to pick up Peter's pieces."

"But you're the only one, you fool!" Valentine was in disbelief. "The world sucks ass, and most people are small minded. But you must realize that if Peter cannot succeed, you're the only one who can."

"What about you? It seems as though you have taken quite an interest in the military yourself."

Valentine rolled her eyes. "I am only here because "Demosthenes" has been deemed as some big asset."

"And they're right to think that", Ender assured her. "Which is why I am sure you are more than qualified to do the job."

"We are not talking about me", she became serious once again. "My point is, that it is not my job."

"And why is it mine?" Ender raised his eyebrows.

"Because it is for god's sake!!" She threw up her hands. "But I cannot stop you from doing anything. If you want too, go ahead. Find them, but if the world ends before you are back; it will be your fault."

Ender was getting particularly annoyed with how easily Valentine made him out to look bad. So what if he forgot about the world's well being for a while? He had been gone for two years, and the planet was still standing. Sort of, anyway. Their bickering could not help but remind him of the last time they had fought about mankind. Of course, everything went around full circle, as he imagined himself lying on his makeshift raft on the lake.

Oh, what he would give to go back there and clear his mind. When he had been at his worst, that was the place that managed to give him solitude. And the rough memory of the waves rolling against the beach, still managed to bring him back from all of the responsibility he had. That, quite possibly, was the only place where Ender could be himself. Where he was free of the burden that came with his name, and the constant strategic thinking that was always expected of him. So, it was no surprise, that whenever things seemed to be too complicated, he would go back to his memories of the lake. It acted as a quiet place to think. A safe place from all judgement, and outside manipulators. A single place of security for him.

"Ender!" Valentine got impatient. "I do not mean to be appalling to you, but we have always told each other how it is. I made a promise to myself that I would be nothing but honest with you."

"And I am honestly telling you", he could not help but mimic her. "that the world will not collapse all at once. Maybe everyone just needs to take a break, and think."

"A break!" She hollered a little too loudly than she intended. "You have been doing nothing since you left!"

"Of course you would think that. You, Valentine, as you sat down here watching innocent men and women laying down their lives for this country!"